Correlates of HIV Knowledge and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Female Military Personnel

Essien, E. James; Monjok, Emmanuel; Chen, Hua; Abughosh, Susan; Ekong, Ernest; Peters, Ronald J.; Holmes, Laurens; Holstad, Marcia McDonnell; Mgbere, Osaro

doi:10.1007/s10461-010-9701-4

Cited by 14 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(34 reference statements)

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“…We recorded no significant association between HIV/AIDS knowledge and the risk assessment methods, despite a high prevalence of HIV risk indicators in the population. Although the adult literacy rate in Nigeria is considered high, this observation corroborates with our earlier findings [6-7], and that of other researchers [31-32], where despite high degree of HIV/AIDS knowledge, armed forces personnel were reported to have engaged in risk-taking behaviors. For instance, approximately, 60.4% of our study participants who did not use condom during their last sexual encounter were at moderate/high risk of contracting STIs/HIV, despite widespread knowledge that condoms offer protection against the diseases when used correctly and consistently.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Proximity to the disease (e.g., knowing someone with HIV/AIDS) has similarly been shown to be useful in educating others about the disease [34, 47]. This finding confirms the wisdom of many community programs that utilize persons with HIV/AIDS to reach and motivate the community [6]. Also of interest, was the highly significant moderate/high risk (100%) associated with participants who were identified as receiving money, drugs or gift for sex, sharing needles to inject drugs, those who had sex partner(s) who used needles to inject drugs and where both partners were drinking before last sexual encounter.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…Thus, self-perception of risk may be the first step toward behavioral changes and adoption of protective actions such as condom use, and has been reported to be powerfully influenced by social, structural, and population-level risks and protections [22]. A typical Nigerian military environment, which tends to put the female military personnel at high risk of contracting and transmitting STIs/HIV have been described in previous studies [6-9]. Analyzing the risk environment in which these women operate would help in developing prevention and coping strategies that emphasize both individual behavioral and environmental change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A more alarming situation is the fact that about 3.6% of women age 15-19 were reported to have been infected as well suggesting early sexual debut [5]. While awareness of HIV is relatively high especially among urban populations in Nigeria, it appears that the high level of knowledge of HIV/AIDS has little impact on the myths and misconceptions about HIV transmission [6], and the attendant risk-taking behaviors [7, 8]. Evidence indicates that vast majority of Nigerian women still indulge in risky sexual practices such as having multiple sexual partners, unprotected sex, alcohol and drug abuse, with elevated rates of STIs [7-9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis

et al. 2012

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This study examined the socio-demographic and selected behavioral characteristics associated with self-perceived and epidemiologic notions of risk for acquiring STIs/HIV infection using data from a cross-sectional survey involving 346 consenting female military personnel from two cantonments in Southwestern Nigeria. Findings revealed significant discordance in participants’ risk status based on the two assessment methods, with Kappa coefficients ranging from −0.021 to 0.115. Using epidemiologic assessment as the “gold standard”, 45.4% of the study population were able to accurately assessed their risk levels through self-perception with significant (p≤.01) socio-demographic variations. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicate that STIs/HIV risk models using both self-perceived and epidemiologic notions of risk were significantly determined by different set of covariates. It is recommended that STIs/HIV prevention intervention should integrate the identified covariates and be targeted at changing individual risk behaviors and perceptions, as well as the social contexts in which risky behaviors occur in the military population.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis

et al. 2012

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“…The validity was also established by constructing items to represent the different sections of the study topic, based on literature review. The questionnaire was designed as an adaptation from previous studies [9,11,25,26], to collect data on sociodemographic characteristics, perceived barriers to condom use and condom use. A pretest of the questionnaire was done on a convenience sample of 20 out-of-school adolescents of both genders who did not take part in the study proper, for clarity and to ascertain internal consistency.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Barriers to Condom Use among Out-of-School Adolescents in Kumba, Southwest Region of Cameroon

Tarkang¹

2013

AJHR

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Abstract:Cameroon has a high concentration of out-of-school youth. Therefore research relating to out-of-school adolescents and human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is imperative. This study investigated the perceived barriers to condom use among out-of-school adolescents in Kumba, Cameroon. A crosssectional study of a probability sample of 405 adolescents aged 15-24 years was adopted. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software program, at the level 0.05.Most out-of-school adolescents in this study perceived certain barriers to condom use. Up to60.5% perceived that they lacked knowledge on correct condom usage; 58.8% perceived that they would feel embarrassed to buy condoms; 54.2%would feel embarrassed to use condoms; 50.9% would feel embarrassed to ask their partners to use condoms; 70.6% believed that condom usage decreases sexual sensations, making sex less enjoyable for either partner; 70.4% believed that condom use reduces sexual urges; 66.1% respondents believed that condom use could make partner feel un-trusted; 37.8% perceived that should a condom slip off during intercourse, it could land up in the stomach of the female partner; 46.6% perceived that they would be allergic to lubricants used in condoms, and 54.8% perceived that latex condoms cause itching. Being a Christian or a male was associated with increased perceived barriers to condom use, while being a Muslim was associated with increased perceived barriers to condom negotiation. Being a female was associated with increased barrier to condom access. Perceived barriers to condom use were associated with condom non-use. Out-of-school adolescents perceived certain barriers to condom use, and consequently were not using condoms and were therefore at risk of HIV/AIDS transmission.

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Effectiveness of a video-based motivational skills-building HIV risk-reduction intervention for female military personnel

Essien

Mgbere

Monjok

et al. 2011

Social Science & Medicine

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Anecdotal evidence suggests that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in several African armed forces are high, with gender inequality rendering female military personnel more vulnerable to the disease. The object of this study was to replicate a successful videotape-based HIV prevention intervention among Nigerian female military personnel in an effort to establish the cross-cultural stability, feasible and cost-effectiveness of this approach in resource-limited countries. Enlisted women (N=346) were recruited from two cantonments in Southwestern Nigeria and randomly assigned to either (a) a 5-session video-based, small group, cognitive-behavioral, HIV prevention intervention or (b) a 5-session, video-based, contact-matched, HIV education control condition. Participants provided self-report of their HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and sexual behaviors at baseline, 3 and 6 months after completing the intervention. The results indicate that the motivational skills-building intervention did not improve participants' knowledge of HIV/AIDS any better than did the HIV education control condition at each assessment period, but it significantly (p<0.05) increased condom use among women in this group by 53.6% at 3-month follow-up. HIV preventive behaviors among women in the motivational skills-building intervention group improved significantly (p<0.01), being 2 and 3 times more, compared to women in the HIV education control group at 3-month and 6-month follow-up assessments. The intervention also significantly (p<0.001) improved behavioral intentions of participants as well as reduced alcohol use before sex by 25% (p<0.01), after 3 months; and number of sexual partners by 12% (p<0.05) after 6 months. Women in the intervention group were five times more likely than women in HIV education control group to suggest that their new male partners use condom. These findings indicate that a videotape-based, HIV prevention intervention is a feasible and effective approach to HIV prevention among female military personnel from sub-Saharan Africa.

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Correlates of HIV Knowledge and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Female Military Personnel

Cited by 14 publications

References 25 publications

Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis

Modeling Covariates of Self-Perceived and Epidemiologic Notions of Risk for Acquiring STIs/HIV among Military Personnel: A Comparative Analysis

Perceived Barriers to Condom Use among Out-of-School Adolescents in Kumba, Southwest Region of Cameroon

Effectiveness of a video-based motivational skills-building HIV risk-reduction intervention for female military personnel

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